


used to waste my time dreaming of being alive (now I only waste it dreaming of you)

by aletterinthenameofsanity



Series: my tiny ass fandom fest [14]
Category: Daybreak (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bisexual Eli Cardashyan, Bisexual Josh Wheeler, Bisexual Male Character, ELI IS ALWAYS SAFE IN MY FICS, F/F, GUESS WHO ISN'T DYING IN THIS VERSION?, Gay Male Character, M/M, Role Reversal, WHY DO ALL MY FAVORITE SHOWS HAVE TO GET CANCELLED, WHY WAS THERE NOT A SEASON TWO, You Know Who, alright kids here's the thing, everyone gets a pov of sorts, i swear to god that this all makes sense i promise, i will singlehandedly add to this fandom if i have to, just like canon, there is no fanfic for this fandom and so I decided to have fun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:29:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23371702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aletterinthenameofsanity/pseuds/aletterinthenameofsanity
Summary: The Apocalypse could not have happened at a worse time for Josh Wheeler. The day his dad died, the day after he had sex with his boyfriend for the first time, the night that he and Eli were on opposite sides of town due to Josh pushing Eli away because of his dad's death.Josh Wheeler is not entirely sure how he ended up travelling the Apocalypse with Mona Lisa and Ms. Crumble- the only adult not to get turned into a Ghoulie- in his quest to find his boyfriend and save him, but when said Trio ends up helping him take down the Jocks, including Sam Dean and her second-in-command Wesley Fists, he can’t exactly argue.(In which Sam is the leader of the Jocks, Wesley is her right-hand man, Mona is Sam's ex-girlfriend, a ronin trying to atone for her sins, Turbo has taken over the whole mall and is masquerading as Baron Triumph, Angelica is a ghoulie that no one can understand, Ms. Crumble adopts Mona and Josh as her sort-of kids, Eli is being held hostage by the Jocks like most of the school, and, well, Josh is still Josh, trying to find his boyfriend after the world has ended.Welcome to the Apocalypse, kids. Things are a bit different this time around.)
Relationships: Eli Cardashyan/Josh Wheeler, Josh Wheeler & Mona Lisa (Daybreak), Ms. Crumble | The Witch & Angelica Green, Samaira "Sam" Dean/Mona Lisa (Daybreak), Wesley Fists/Turbo Pokaski | Turbo Bro Jock
Series: my tiny ass fandom fest [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1242110
Comments: 2
Kudos: 58





	used to waste my time dreaming of being alive (now I only waste it dreaming of you)

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from "Of All The Gin Joints In All The World" by Fall Out Boy.
> 
> Do I have excuses for this fic or the amount of fun I had writing it? No, no I do not. Do I care? Fuck no. This was some of the most fun I've ever had writing a fic and I have no regrets. The saying goes "if you want to read something and you can't find it, write it yourself" and here is the product of me wanting to read this story.
> 
> Fics in this fandom at time of fic publication: 40, with 1 written by me. (So here's a second!)

_He’s not perfect. You aren’t either, and the two of you will never be perfect._

_But if he can make you laugh at least once, causes you to think twice, and if he admits to being human and making mistakes, hold onto him and give him the most you can._

_He isn’t going to quote poetry, he’s not thinking about you every moment, but he will give you a part of him that he knows you could break. Don’t hurt him, don’t change him, and don’t expect for more than he can give._

_Don’t analyze. Smile when he makes you happy, yell when he makes you mad, and miss him when he’s not there._

_Love hard when there is love to be had._

_Because perfect guys don’t exist, but there’s always one guy that is perfect for you._

**-Bob Marley**

The Apocalypse could not have happened at a worse time for Josh Wheeler. The day his dad died, the day after he had sex with his boyfriend for the first time, the night that he and Eli were on opposite sides of town due to Josh pushing Eli away because of his dad's death.  
  
And because of that one stupid mistake, that one push, Josh hasn't found Eli since, in the weeks since the world ended.

Josh Wheeler is not entirely sure how he ended up travelling the Apocalypse with Mona Lisa and Ms. Crumble- the only adult not to get turned into a Ghoulie- in his quest to find his boyfriend and save him, but when said Trio ends up helping him take down the Jocks, including Sam Dean and her second-in-command Wesley Fists, he can’t exactly argue, even if it gets him into increasingly hot water when he has to find a way to escape the Jocks and find Mona and Ms. Crumble again.  
  
However, it _also_ gets him to the mall, and to Turbo Pokaski.

Turbo Pokaski has never had a reputation of being the nicest guy in school. Far from it- most kids are aware of just how ruthless he is on the field, of how willing he is to take down any opposition in his way- which is why it’s utterly shocking for Josh to find out that he’s just guarding the Mall from intruders.

It’s less strange when Josh realizes that Turbo has booby-trapped the Mall in an attempt to keep all of the contents to himself- a rather selfish move that sets Josh’s world to rights now that he’s able to reconcile post-Apocalypse Turbo with pre-Apocalypse Turbo. It makes things even _more_ normal when Turbo traps Ms. Crumble and Josh into the side of the mall with “The Witch,” a Ghoulie who’s Turbo tells them will probably eat their faces off. Turbo says this with not the smallest hint of glee, which is _also_ not a shock- and almost comforting, in its sense of normalcy.

What _does_ shock Josh, though, is that the Witch turns out to be little Angelica, his old babysitting charge, who seems to have gone just a bit off her rocker when she became a Ghoulie. At first he’s not sure about anything about her- like how she became a Ghoulie, for instance, considering the fact that she’s just eleven-years-old, or how she manages to have some presence of mind about her- but then he sees her construct a makeshift flamethrower out of supplies from the home goods store and he has the feeling that she's not as crazy as the rest of the Ghoulies. (Or, maybe, it's that Angelica's always _been_ crazy, and the Apocalypse has somehow made her normal.)

When Ms. Crumble and Mona get back from the pharmacy with stories about Ms. Crumble engineering an explosion and Mona rejecting an offer to join the Cheermazons, Josh has managed to get closer to Angelica thanks to her cauterizing his wound and then eating his necrotic-tissue-filled maggots.

And this whole time, even as he’s acquiring a couple of strange sisters and a sort-of Mom- because Ms. Crumble insists on kinda, sorta becoming Mona, Angelica-witch, and Josh's mother of sorts- the whole time Josh thinks about Eli, his boyfriend, the boy he loves, who he doesn’t know what happened to during the Apocalypse.

It was Josh's mistake that separated him and Eli the night the world ended. It was his fuck up that led to Eli disappearing and maybe even dying.   
  
And it's Josh's quest that's going to make things right. It is Josh who is going to fix things, is going to find Eli, is going to bring him back and keep him safe.

It's Josh fault and Josh is going to make it all right again.

But then- Mona and Ms. Crumble tell him that they saw Eli's body.

And Josh's new, carefully made world threatens to fall apart.

-

Eli Cardashyan is a man of many talents and titles. He’s a Pokemon master and the owner of a glorious collection of Magic: the Gathering cards. He’s slick and clever with knockoffs and he can find weed wherever he goes, like some sort of pot-focused sniffer dog. He’s Josh Wheeler’s boyfriend (and Josh's often Pokemon battler) and the son of immigrants, resourceful and clever and a bit of an asshole, if he's honest with himself, but whatever.

...And yet, despite all of these skills, he somehow got taken captive by the Jocks, like an utter loser.

(Alright, it’s not like he and Josh weren’t losers _before_ the Apocalypse, but it still fucking sucks.)

It _is_ nice, though, that there is one shining light during all of this: the rather strange friendship he’s struck up with Wesley, his former bully and Sam Dean’s now right-hand man in the Apocalypse.

It’s through Wesley that he learns about Wesley’s rather interesting strained relationship with his ex, Turbo, and Sam Dean’s own interesting relationship with Mona, the roaming Samurai who kinda stole Wesley’s Samurai shtick. He learns about how Wesley and Turbo’s relationship progresses over the course of the Apocalypse, with Wesley often taking advantage of Ghoulie watches to sneak off to a place near the mall and hook up with Turbo, who’s now King of the Mall.

These conversations take place at weird intervals, in between Wesley's Ghoulie watches and his turns executing Sam Dean's orders and intimidating the idiots who stand up to the Jocks. Normally these conversations either take place when Eli's working as one of the Jock's janitors- actually not even close to the worst of the jobs in the Apocalypse- or around weed, with Eli's hands tied together in his front but still able to hold a joint.

It’s over the course of these conversations that Eli learns one beautiful, life-affirming piece of information- Josh is alive. Eli knew that Josh hadn’t been taken captive by the Jocks, but up until last week he hadn’t known if he was alive or not.

“Not only is your boy alive, Cardashyan,” Wesley says, “But he’s apparently formed some sort of weird agreement with Turbo to share the Mall.”

“I thought Baron Triumph had the mall?” Eli asks as he sweeps the floor, because Sam Dean and her Jocks can’t think of a better role for a loser like him. At least Wesley, thank god, took pity on him and has been sharing weed with him for weeks- sure, it’s weed that Eli helped find in some kid’s locker, which got him on Wesley’s good side, but sadly enough Wesley is still the only person who deigns to speak to Eli and so he, at this point, is Eli’s best friend here in the Apocalypse.

“Nah, he’s got the factory. Don’t tell anyone, but Turbo’s been dressing up as the Baron to scare kids away from his mall.”

Eli shrugs. “That’s pretty smart. I wouldn’t have expected it of Turbo.”

Wesley rolls his eyes, but he doesn’t argue, not even to protect his secret boyfriend’s honor. “The point is, Josh Wheeler’s alive, alright? And he, Mona, Ms. Crumble, and the Witch are sharing one half of the mall while Turbo’s got the other.”

Eli raises an eyebrow. “Did you just say Ms. Crumble? I thought all adults got turned into Ghoulies when the bombs hit.”

Wesley shrugs. "Turbo doesn't know and neither does anyone else. All Turbo says he knows is that Ms. Crumble has kinda-sorta adopted Mona, Josh, and some little girl named Angelica who has apparently been turned into a half-intelligent Ghoulie." Then he sighs. “Point is, Cardashyan, your boyfriend’s alive and kicking and Turbo says that he can’t stop talking about you. So there you have it.”

And that, at least, soothes some Apocalypse-damaged part of Eli’s heart. Somewhere, out there, is Josh, alive and safe in the mall, and despite the fight that they had the night the world ended- the fight where Josh had pushed Eli away after they'd slept together, calling Eli immature and clingy and some other horrible shit that had Eli yelling back at him until they'd both stormed away, and thus haven't seen each other since- Eli still cares.

Eli forgave Josh the moment the world ended. He still loves his boyfriend, the idiot that he is. And to hear that Josh feels the same way- it buoys Eli's heart in a way he hasn't felt since the world ended.

-

"Your boyfriend isn't dead, Wheeler," Turbo says with a sigh and a grunt, and Josh's eyebrows shoot up.

"The fuck are you talking about, Turbo?"

"Long story short, I still have a contact within the Jocks, and said contact says that your boy's been seen alive."

Something in Josh's heart swells and it feels like he's able to breathe for the first time in over a month. Eli's alive. The Jocks and the Ghoulies and the other tribes and the bombs- none of that managed to kill him. Josh's snarky, clever boyfriend is alive and there's a way to find him.

"I've gotta find him, then," Josh says, standing up from his position sitting on one of the tables in the food court.

"Dude, if you go out there to find him you'll fucking die," Mona says, gesturing with the sword she's sworn only to use in self-defense. It _should_ make Josh nervous, the way she's so casually swinging it about, but there's something about Mona and the weird, almost familial relationshp that they've built up with her, Ms. Crumble, and tiny little crazy Witch Angelica that makes him comfortable with her and her brazen sword-swinging. "We don't want you to die, schmuck."

"I know that," Josh says, gesturing with his far-less-pointy amputated finger- the one that doesn't have gangrene only because of the antibiotics that Mona and Ms. Crumble brought back, the cauterizing that Angelica-Witch did to the wound, and Turbo allowing Josh to pass out on a bed in the home goods store halfway through the mall. "But I can't let Eli die out there, either. I love him, Mona-"

"I know about love and stupid decisions, schmuck," Mona says with an eye roll. "Trust me, I made some when the Apocalypse started. But you can't die, idiot, not when-"

"What does your contact say?" Ms. Crumble asks, turning to Turbo, who's been watching their entire conversation with a strange degree of fascination. "Is Eli safe?"

Turbo Pokaski is not a kid to wince, but his face twitches almost as if he's about to say something he wants to avoid the consequences of. "Kind of."

Josh's heart slams to his shoes. "The fuck you mean, kind of?" he asks, and Turbo sighs, rolling his eyes.

"My contact says that Baron Triumph may have captured a few kids last night. Kids from the school. Y'know, where Eli was last seen."

Mona's eyes close as her lips press together into a thin line. "Dude, please don't say what I think you're saying."

"Baron Triumph just might have kidnapped your boyfriend, Wheeler."

Mona groans and Ms. Crumble's hand goes to her weapon of choice- the chemical set she keeps in her satchel- and Angelica-Witch raises her flamethrower. "You want to hunt Baron Triumph, don't you Josh?"

"He has Eli, Mona, who you and Ms. Crumble said you thought died." Ms. Crumble winces and Josh isn't sure why but he doesn't quite care, not when Eli is stuck somewhere out there. "I can't let Baron Triumph eat my boyfriend."

There must be something desperate in Josh's voice that Mona can hear, because she groans and nods. "Fine," she says, "But we're not doing this without Turbo's contact."

-

"How the fuck did Baron Triumph get past our defenses?" Sam says, voice cold and heart-piercing. She has the power to do that- she holds everyone's respect, all of the time, and she rarely, if ever, needs to use her "in control" voice. 

The fact that she's using it- it shows that she's _seriously_ pissed.

Wesley swallows. "It was the STEM Punks," he says, "There was evidence at the fences that they had weakened our defenses and Baron Triumph was able to sneak in and take some of the outlying janitorial staff and other outlying kids."

Sam's gaze is steady and almost terrifying in its neutrality. "Put their leader into American Ninja Idol," Sam says, "And use their second and third in command as Ghoulie bait. You know what to do with the rest."

And that Wesley sure does, thanks to Sam's previous treatment of other tribes, and he'll take care of it, but only after-

"What are we going to do about Baron Triumph?" Wesley asks, thinking about Turbo and his disguise and the fact that they're pretty sure that the Baron is Jayden Hoyles and the fact that Eli, who's kind of become Wesley's closest friend since the Apocalypse, was kidnapped by the Ghoulie monster.

Sam looks him straight in the eye. "We don't have the forces to just invade the factory without knowing what their defenses are."

"I have a contact at the mall who might have some recon forces that we could use," Wesley says, hoping and praying in the name of the Lost Samurai that Turbo and his little mall squad will be willing to help him save his only real friend's life- and, of course, the rest of the kids, too.

(Though, if what Eli and Turbo have told him is true, Wesley's pretty sure that Josh Wheeler would go to the ends of the world to save Eli Cardashyan. That's what happens when you're stupid in love with someone.)

Sam nods. "If you're not taking any of our forces other than yourself- and you swear to be back within two days- you're good to go, as long as you take care of the STEM Punks first."

"Yes, ma'am," Wesley says with a nod.

-

"Turbo's contact is fucking Wesley Fists?" Mona nearly shouts when they reach the alley and find said Jock there.

"Why's that weird?" Ms. Crumble asks, "Weren't you all friends back before the world ended?"

"Yeah, but they used to hook up constantly- oh," Mona's face shutters as realization crosses her face and she releases a small string of f-bombs. She then turns to Wesley, waving the sword that Josh knows she won't use to hurt Wesley, but that Wesley doesn't know is harmless. "You and Turbo have been fucking hooking up, haven't you? You're where Turbo sneaks off to sometimes."

"Gross," Angelica-witch mutters, which Ms. Crumble responds to with a nod.

Wesley rolls his eyes. "Let's go save those kids," Wesley says, eyes flicking to Josh and, for some reason, is nose wrinkling as if not that impressed.

"What's up with that reaction, Wesley?" Josh asks as they head off to the factory, and Wesley shrugs.

"Nothing personal, but you're just as underwhelming as I remember, dude. From all of Eli's stories, I thought I'd overlooked something, but nah. You're just boring Josh. Not even interesting enough to become Other Other Gay Josh."

"Probably because I'm actually Bi Josh," Josh says, his dislike of Wesley's description of him far outweighed by the thought of Eli apparently describing him in such a positive light.

Wesley nods. "Sorry, man. Didn't mean to assume anything."

Josh shrugs. "It's all good, even if you think I'm "underwhelming.""

"Like I said, man, it's nothing personal. Just- I've been working for Sam Dean for weeks. I'm dating Turbo Pokaski. My best friend is Eli, who is more impressive than you'd think." And that last one is definitely a feeling that Josh would agree with. "You're...just a bit underwhelming, man. All these stories that Eli and Turbo told- I thought you'd be more than just loser Josh from before the Apocalypse, that's all."

"Listen," Mona says, interjecting, "I'm not normally one to defend Josh, but he's more than what he appears." Josh can't help but smile at her compliment- Mona, Ms. Crumble, Angelica-witch, and him have become a sort of family over the past few weeks, a family that Josh is so happy to have after having a broken one for so long. "He may be a bit of a loser, but he helped save Ms. Crumble and I's lives when you and Sam Dean attacked. We saved his in return, too, but hey, that's what friends are for."

Wesley's posture straightens at that. "You're right," he says, "That's what friends are for." His gaze focuses on the road ahead of them and the factory that's rapidly coming into view and Josh has to wonder what exactly went down to make Eli and Wesley such good friends.

Then again- Josh looks at Mona, and Ms. Crumble, and Angelica-witch, and he knows that the Apocalypse makes strange family and friends of people you'd never expect. He definitely knows that better than most.

-

Eli hears the commotion before he sees it. There's sounds of fighting and swords and Eli has no idea what's going on other than that the Baron isn't making his usual rounds about now- which makes it possible for Eli to finally utilize that paper clip and rubber band he's had tucked into his pockets since the Apocalypse went down for a situation just like this.

Eli manages to get the lock open and push open the door of his cage just as there's a yell and a tall figure pops up onto the walkway- a figure that has Eli dropping his paperclip and rubber band on the walkway beneath him and running forward.

"I'm so fucking sorry for pushing you away that night, Eli-" Josh starts, but Eli cuts him off by yanking him into a kiss and then into a hug, clutching onto Josh in the same way that Josh is clutching onto him.

"Forget about it," Eli says, voice choked in a way he swore it wouldn't when he saw Josh again, but fuck it, it's the first he's seen of his boyfriend since the world ended so sue him. "I don't care. I forgave you a long time ago." Then he kisses Josh, pulling his stupidly tall boyfriend down to mash their lips together again. "I love you, you idiot."

"I love you too," Josh says, smile stupidly brilliant and wide, then grabs onto Eli's hand. Eli can feel the callouses on Josh's hand, the ones that match Eli's, the ones that didn't exist on either of them before the world ended. Whatever their sources, Eli's not planning on letting go of Josh's hand anytime soon. "That's why we came."

"Speaking of which- what did you do to Baron Triumph?" Eli asks.

"Drowned him in cereal," Josh says, "Mona wanted to stab him, but I said no."

"So I stabbed him anyway," Mona says, and Eli turns slightly to find the famous samurai Mona rolling her eyes, a smile on her lips despite her facade of disdain. "Nice to finally meet you again, Eli. Josh couldn't stop talking about you."

"That's what Wesley kept telling me," Eli says, grinning at his boyfriend, then adds: "By the way, Wesley's pissed that you, quote, "stole his thing.""

Mona snorts. "More than one of us can want to be a Samurai, Fists," she shouts over the railing.

"I meant you fucking stole my sword, Mona!" Wesley shouts back as he unlocks more of the cages, causing more and more kids to come spilling out. "That sword was _my_ Samurai sword and you stole it when you left Sam!"

"Finders keepers!" Mona shouts over the railing before turning back to Eli and Josh. "Like I was saying, Cardashyan, nice to see you. Now maybe Josh will shut up and actually start keeping himself safe now that he's not on a stupid quest to find you- no offense."

Eli shrugs. "None taken. Josh _can_ be a bit of an idiot turd sometimes."

"Hey!" Josh protests, but makes no move to separate his hand from Eli's, showing he really doesn't really care.

Eli grins at Josh. "You know I love you."

"That I do," Josh says, then pulls on Eli's hand to lead him down the stairs. "Now let's save everyone and get out of this place."

Now _that_ is an idea that Eli can definitely agree with.

-

They get back to the mall and it's with a ton of kids in tow- kids that Turbo protests the presence of, until his eyes fall onto Eli's hand in Josh's and he protests some but his protests have clearly lost some of their fervor. Instead, Turbo slips away as the kids cheer and spread out over the mall, guided around by Mona, Ms. Crumble, Angelica-witch, and Josh, who refuses to let go of Eli's hand the whole time- a refusal that Eli reciprocates, unwilling to let go of his boyfriend after everything they've gone through since the world ended.

At the end of the evening, Turbo finds himself sitting next to Mona at the end of the evening, sharing a joint that reminds Turbo of Wesley and some of the (maybe) better times before the world ended.

"Wesley went back to her," Mona says quietly, and Turbo nods.

"I knew that he would. He always does. I know he's mine, but-"

Mona lets out a small snort. "At least you know that his heart is yours, even if he serves as her second-in-command. I have no idea if she even cares about me, if that."

Turbo lets out a cloud of smoke. "I'm not really someone who's good at comforting, so if you want that-"

"God, fuck no," Mona swears, "If I wanted comfort, I'd ask Josh's sappy ass or get a hug from Ms. Crumble. This is more of a one time share-your-sorrows-and-stomp-over them session."

Turbo nods. Now _that_ is an idea he's much more comfortable with. Vulnerability isn't really his thing. It's never been, and that's a fact that hasn't really changed since the world ended.

"But as I was saying," Mona says, and casually changes the subject to: "You're not the King of the Mall anymore."

Turbo looks out across the mall floor, listening to the sounds of kids shouting at each other, voices happier than he's heard since before the world ended. Across the way he sees Josh and that little, scrawny boyfriend of his walking around, hand in hand, the boyfriend having acquired new, clean clothing somewhere in the mall since he arrived. Josh's happy voice carries across the mall, as does the sight of his content smile.

"I don't think I care _too_ much anymore." Then Turbo looks her dead in the eye, hand twitching around the ax he carries everywhere with him. "But don't tell anyone."

Mona snorts. "I ain't no snitch, don't worry."

Well, at least that's a constant Turbo can count on, even if the world has ended.

-

Homecoming Redux. Eli and Josh are going together, Angelica-witch insists on dancing with Ms. Crumble, the kids are all going in pairs, and Mona and Turbo are the world's strangest dates-

That is, of course, until Wesley Fists shows up in a somehow bright white outfit, hand offered to Turbo for a dance. Turbo gives Wesley the last of the bluetooth headphones and for one night, they have their first real date.

This, of course, leaves Mona happily dancing by herself. She's a complete and utter lesbian, whether distinguished or disaster, no one can tell, and Turbo is _really_ not her type, so her only regret for the evening is that she can't dance with her girlfriend.

Eli and Josh are made Gender-Neutral-Homecoming-Royalty- over the past few days, the kids from Baron Triumph's factory have heard the story of Josh's quest plenty of times, and are more than happy to bestow the crowns on Eli and Josh- and Mona couldn't be prouder to put the crown on her (somehow) best friend's head and his boyfriend's. Even if she still kind of sees Eli Cardashyan as a loser, she's grateful for the smile he puts on Josh's face.

And then they all dance the night away, headphones on their ears, finally getting a night of happiness and joy in the middle of the end of the world. There are no jock invasions save Wesley's appearance, and the night ends with the kids all scattering to their respective rooms and beds throughout the mall. Angelica-witch and Ms. Crumble, for instance, have the Aeropostale to themselves, Mona has staked out the third floor sporting goods store, Turbo has the Crossroads, and Josh and Eli have a bed in the home goods store that they put to _very_ good use that night.

And as for their resident Jock, well-

Wesley returns to the school that night after stuffing his dance-clothes in a random house along the way. He makes his way back to the school and away from his boyfriend, their date, and the Mall that so many kids are starting to call home.

But not all of the kids. To Wesley's surprise, about a third of the kids that Wesley, Mona, Josh, Angelica-witch, and Ms. Crumble saved from the factory chose to go back with Wesley to the school, because Sam Dean's a rather good leader.

And she is, really. Sam Dean's made about the best combination of fair and strict that a group of kids could ask for after the world has ended, and that's why Wesley has chosen to stick with her. She's the best leader that they can all get at the end of the world, and even if his boyfriend and his best friend belong to another tribe, he can deal with it, because he's sticking with Sam.

Tonight, though, Sam is sitting in the classroom that she and Wesley have been sleeping on cots in, staring at something in her hand- a something that Wesley quickly realizes is a tiny charm bracelet.

"How's Mona?" she asks, looking up at Wesley, and in this moment, Sam Dean isn't the leader of the Jocks. She isn't the girl who saved the world when it ended. She's just a girl asking about her ex that she's still desperately in love with- a feeling that Wesley understands all too well.

Wesley shrugs, not even questioning how Sam knows that he was just with Mona and their entire tribe. "She's doing pretty good. From what I could tell, she missed you, but you know there's no way she's coming back with things the way things are."

Sam gives him a smile as Wesley sinks down on his own cot. "Oh, I know," Sam says, smile somewhat sad, and for a moment the two of them bond, stuck in their respective strained relationships. Then she tucks the charm bracelet in her pocket and the moment ends. "Time for bed, Wesley. We've got a big day tomorrow, getting all those kids integrated into their new lives."

Everyday's a big day since the Apocalypse ended, Wesley wants to say, but doesn't, instead lying down just as Sam does. He's not going to fall asleep just yet- he and Sam takes shifts throughout the night, so that no idiot is able to stab either of them in the back.

So this is what life has come to, in the Apocalypse. Protecting Sam Dean and her protecting him back, having a boyfriend and a best friend on a tribe opposed to his, spending his days alternately saving kids, dooming Ghoulies, or sneaking out to make out with his boyfriend.

Wesley Fists' life is nothing like he once pictured it. But hey, that's what the end of the world tends to do to people, right?

**Author's Note:**

> And since Baron Triumph is actually dead in this version of events (or, is he?), who knows what happens next? Does someone save him and try to overthrow Sam Dean? Probably not, but who knows? All I know is that Eli and Josh are happy, Wesley and Turbo are at a much more healthy place than they were in canon, Angelica and Ms. Crumble are happily hanging out together, and Sam and Mona, well, who knows? I think they'll work out their shit, but I'm not sure. What do y'all think?
> 
> Hope you guys all enjoyed this! I had so much fun writing it and I hope that you had the same fun reading it. Leave a comment if you don't mind- comments are the lifeblood of a writer and honestly, they just really make me happy. Also, it's really nice to see that there are people alive in this fandom other than me!


End file.
